Daily Declutter

We helped my niece and nephew move into their first home today. They have some wonderful friends, and it was grand to see them setting up their new life together. They've done a wonderful job furnishing their home with contributions from family and gleanings from Craigslist. I'm so proud of them, and it makes me reminisce fondly of the apartment my husband and I first moved into many years ago. I'm grateful that they have a first floor apartment, however, as I remember not loving moving everything up all our steps.

A young couple moving into their first home need lots of incidentals that they did not think about. They could use a couple of lamps (the bedroom has none), ice trays for the freezer, and a trash can in the kitchen. Things that you don't necessarily think of until you go to get ice... and there is no ice there.

This is an excellent opportunity to get rid of things we don't necessarily need, and an opportunity to evaluate things I didn't really want to get rid of, but which I don't need. My niece could use an end table, and my husband and I offered her one that we had in storage. However, when I was getting the table ready to drop off, my husband mentioned that he meant to give them a different table. (Yes, we have two end tables in storage. That I had never thought about getting rid of. That's why I'm working on this.) One table (which I offered) came from my husband's side of the family; the table he offered came from my side of the family. (Do you see where this is going?)

My table is part of a bedroom set. We are using the bureau, and the end tables and bed are all in storage. But you can't get rid of part of a set and keep other parts, can you? That would be breaking up the set. Even if you never plan to use anything except the bureau, because the bed is only a double and too small and we don't have a guest room and even if we did I'd rather have a queen bed with sheets that fit on any bed in the house and would be more comfortable for any couples that stay over because we tried to sleep in the double bed when my grandmother owned it and it was too small (all read breathlessly, faster at the end, until you run out of breath.)

In the end, after thinking it over, I will be bringing the table by my nieces, so she can use it if she wants to. I'll offer the other one as well, and the mate to my grandmother's table. Because how many end tables do I really need? I'll also be dropping off a mirror, and the trash can we used for recycling cans.

In all, the day was well spent with family and friends, celebrating a new chapter in my niece's life. And I got rid of a couple of things into the bargain.